A Secret In Her Heritage
by Andi Darling
Summary: Catrin Craine comes to the town of Sleepy Hollow with her mother when an estate is left to them. But something strange is going on in the little town of Sleepy Hollow, and Catrin feels uneasy about the whole thing… R&R!
1. Catrin

A Secret In Her Heritage

By:

Macyn Blue

Summary: Catrin Craine comes to the town of Sleepy Hollow with her mother when an estate is left to them. But something strange is going on in the little town of Sleepy Hollow, and Catrin feels uneasy about the whole thing… What is it that has befallen this quaint little town? A ghost from the past? Or perhaps something much worse….

Rating: T

Genre: Mystery/Drama/Romance/General

Disclaimer: **_I OWN NOTHING!!!!!!!_**

Author's Note: Hey everyone, this is my first Sleepy Hollow fanfic… Anyway, here is the first installment of the story, and I hope you all enjoy it! Remember to R&R!!!

Macyn Blue

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Chapter One

Catrin

Catrin (Cat, as she preferred to be called) Craine looked up at the old manor with questioning eyes. She didn't know why she was even here, other then the fact that she had been drug here against her will by her mother.

Cat was 16; young and beautiful with bright blue eyes and long light brown-blonde hair, which had bright, red stripes running through it in the front.

Her facial features bared a striking resemblance to her ancestor, Katrina Van Tassel, or at least that's what she had been told by old relatives and whatnot.

Her pale skin looked even paler because of the black v-neck sweater she wore. Boot cut dark blue jeans covered her Victorian style black boots that had the 3-inch heels.

A light blue cameo hung around her thin neck on a strip of black ribbon and long silver earrings hung down from her earlobes.

Cat's bright blue eyes were painted lightly with midnight blue eyeliner and her long lashes thick with black mascara. A pale pink color was on her lips. Except for these few makeup necessities, her face was bare. She was actually quite pretty and had popularity among most boys, but she never noticed the attention she drew, for the most part she was much more concerned with getting an education and practicing her music then she was in dating. A fact which most of her friends just rolled their eyes at in dismay because of the many guys that had tried to and unsuccessfully set Cat up with in the past.

They had since ceased efforts of trying to find Cat a boyfriend.

The house that loomed before was the Van Tassel estate that had been in the family for ages. And since her great uncle's recent demise, the estate fell to the hands of her mother, Elaine Craine-Cage. But since Elaine and her husband's divorce, she had dropped the hyphen. And so now it was just Elaine Craine (Craine being her maiden name before she had wed of course), as it was with her daughter's name.

But in any case, that was what had brought them on that autumn day, which was quite foggy and cold, to the town known as Sleepy Hollow.


	2. Strangely Familiar

Author's Note: **Remember to R&R. I love feedback, hope you all enjoy this second chapter!**

**_Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!!!!_**

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Chapter Two

"Why did we have to sell our house in New York?" Catrin asked with a disgusted tone in her voice as she and her mother ventured into the house. There was dust everywhere, sheets covered furniture, which they had yet to look at.

Cobwebs hung in doorframes, picture frames, virtually anywhere a spider could knit a web; there was at least one or more of them.

It was quite clear that no one had lived in this house for any amount of time for at least 50 years, judging by the layer of grime on everything, which was at least 2 inches thick.

"Because, we needed a fresh start! I thought this would be a good opportunity to get out of the city. Fix up this old house and make a life here." Elaine said in optimism but Cat could tell that she wasn't looking forward to cleaning this place and 'fixing' it up…

'_If the living room looks like this…I wonder what the attic looks like?'_ Cat thought to herself as she looked around at the room before her. A large fireplace sat on one wall and pillars came down from the ceiling, which was the floor to the second story floor. She tried to imagine what this place might have looked like back in it's day, hosting parties and the like, and she supposed it could have been quite the sight… But the once proud house now lay in shambles, sad and forgotten as time had moved on without it.

There was something strangely familiar about this house, though. Like something Catrin had once seen in a dream... But that was impossible! She had never seen this place before in her life! Cat shrugged off the feeling, she must be mistaken...

&

"Wasn't there supposed to be a caretaker?" Cat asked as she took a step into the house.

"I think so… You would think they would have had someone clean this place, though." Elaine replied as she took her index finger and ran it down the side of one of the pillars…her finger came away black with dust.

"Why don't we just hire someone to do this?" Cat suggested, wrinkling her nose as a cloud of dust sprang into the air as she pulled a sheet off one of the pieces of furniture. The chair that she had uncovered was clearly an antique, upholstered with a light blue silk material upon which an ornate design was embroidered as it was with most antique furniture… It was actually quite pretty with a mahogany wood back and claw feet.

Further investigation revealed other pieces much the same as the first. It looked like a set, almost all of them with the same features and the like…

"You know," Elaine started as she looked around the room. "I think we should call a cleaning service come. Because there is no way that we could do all this by ourselves… And we are supposed to be out of our house in New York by the end of two weeks time… And if we tried to clean so that we _could_ move in here, we wouldn't have enough time to pack." Elaine said, walking towards the staircase. The banister wobbled when she touched it, and the wood of the stairs was brittle; they creaked and groaned with protest under Elaine's lightweight.

"And a contractor. I don't trust these stairs, and we haven't even _seen _upstairs yet…"


End file.
